The MJQ made their annual Christmas gig at New York's Town Hall one year, and who should show up after intermission but
Paul Desmond, who would hardly bring himself to play with anyone in those days, save a
Creed Taylor record date or two. The cool classical modernists and the dry-martini altoist are not unexpectedly a close fit -- after all,
Percy Heath and especially
Connie Kay had been fixtures on
Desmond's solo sessions -- and they do some relaxed swinging turns on some congenial standards, adaptations of P.D. tunes ("La Paloma," "Greensleeves"), one current hit ("Jesus Christ Superstar" in a cute
John Lewis arrangement), and the inevitable "Bags' Groove" (here entitled "Bags' New Groove"). Again,
Desmond softly intones perhaps his favorite standard in the repertoire (he recorded it countless times), "You Go to My Head," tumbling contrapuntally around
Milt Jackson in the tune, while "East of the Sun" has a fine chase sequence between the two down the stretch. Though they had been friends since the 1950s, this was apparently the only time the MJQ and
Desmond ever performed in public, making this one-off album (issued well after
Desmond's death through
Lewis's efforts) a thing to savor for fans of all five musicians. ~ Richard S. Ginell